In their nascent stages, charter schools formed under competing ideologies. In academic circles, charter schools were envisioned as pedagogical laboratories that would allow for educator- and community-driven school improvement. In other circles, charter schools emerged as a free-market reform driven by accountability, choice, and growth. Amid the…

Public charter schools lack research that determines what makes them successful. Charter schools are relatively new, existing for around 30 years in the United States. The depth and breadth of research focusing on public education rarely includes charter schools. The research focusing on charter schools specifically is quite limited. Like…

In this article, I present a new conceptual framework constructed using sensemaking theory and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to demonstrate layers of policy enactment. The framework reimagines policy enactment as a sociomaterial ethico-political activity by considering the factors that mediate policy enactment and the assemblages facilitating the…

The emergence of post-truth culture and the spread of dis/misinformation has received a great deal of attention from researchers. Existing approaches to digital information literacy highlight new skills and strategies needed in digital spaces. However, challenges remain, including disconnects between school curricula and out-of-school experiences,…

The meteoric rise in charter schools has several implications for traditional public schools and their students. One understudied implication is the geographic competition for students. Given traditional public school boundaries are often fixed while charter school boundaries are more flexible, charter schools can draw students away from existing…

Even with the increase in virtual learning, there remains a stigma that virtual schools are not successfully supporting students based on traditionally lower graduate rates and state assessment data. The problem is statewide educational decision-makers lacked an understanding of the prior academic performance, specifically credit attainment, among…

In this article, the authors discuss a month-long research study where sixth grade students researched three women for the half-century after the U.S. Civil War War that worked to change their respective communities to address public issues: Jane Addams, Clara Lemlich, and Ida B. Wells. The sixth graders read a picture book for each of the three…

Debugging (or troubleshooting) provides a rich context to foster problem-solving. Yet, while we know much about some problems and strategies that novices face in programming on-screen, we know far less about debugging and troubleshooting in the context of physical computing, where coding issues may overlap with materially embedded problems. In…

Education continues to diversify with the growth of schools and the influx of beginning teachers. The increased presence of beginning teachers emphasizes the need for teacher-mentoring. This systematic review examined what research shows about training and preparation of teacher-mentors in high school education, revealing three themes: mentor…

The operationalization of school climate is inconsistent, adding to an unwieldy existing body of climate instruments, bringing into question measurement validity concerns. Further, there is minimal literature regarding if comparisons can be made between different school sectors (i.e., public, private, charter). We seek to understand if a commonly…

This study used an explanatory mixed methods research design to examine the scaffolding strategies of middle school teachers during a design problem-based learning (PBL) unit. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used in data collection and analysis, and the findings were integrated for interpretation. Our analysis of classroom…

Fraction competence is essential for learning algebra and pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. However, many children have difficulty using fractions, especially those struggling with mathematics. In this study, we examined the effect of a Tier 2 multicomponent fraction intervention for fifth graders, using a…

This non-experimental correlational quantitative research study was conducted to examine the relationship between the percentage of voluntary live synchronous virtual lesson attendance (LVLA) and the reading comprehension skill growth of sixth through eighth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) students enrolled in a Pennsylvania full-time online…

The presence of tablets and laptops in schools has burgeoned in recent years, with $4.9 billion spent on over 10.8 million devices in 2015. Despite the large and increasingly prevalent monetary and time investments in education technology, little causal evidence of its effectiveness exists. I estimate the effect of a Math and English Language Arts…

Professional learning should be designed in a way that is responsive to the needs of teachers and intentionally planned with adult learning principles in mind. This article outlines one practitioner's professional journey to redefine how professional learning is designed with best practices in adult learning in mind. Strategies utilized during…